The next day.
Morning light pierced the night sky, dawn gazing upon the earth below.
On the westernmost street of Goldenrod City, filled with abandoned buildings.
Natsuhiko arrived here early with his Weedle.
Looking at the rows of old residential buildings, over a dozen stories high but deserted for who knows how long, it was clear that no one had lived here for a long time.
Goldenrod City, as the largest city in the Kanto Region, seemed glorious on the surface, but actually concealed many areas of poverty behind the scenes.
Natsuhiko, for instance, used to be like a larva at the bottom layer of society in Goldenrod City, his life or death mattered to no one.
The area he was now in was a typical place where the city's lower class residents were active.
Also known as.
The slums.
Dressed in clothes given by Kenji, his eyes hidden under a long-brimmed cap scanned the deathly still surroundings.
He couldn't help but frown.
"Finding it here is truly a bit troublesome."
In his hands were the task documents given by his superior Lotto yesterday, describing a Pokémon along with its hazard level and points to note.
His mission was to clear out this Pokémon.
This clearing wasn't just about driving it away; it meant a complete eradication.
"This really feels like a surreal sense of familiarity."
Natsuhiko murmured.
His past self was quite active in this area and was quite familiar with the environment.
He knew just how complicated the situation here was, and finding a hidden Pokémon was definitely not easy.
Meanwhile, Natsuhiko could clearly sense that in this seemingly empty place, many eyes were secretly watching him.
Hostile and greedy eyes.
With his current clothing, he was indeed quite out of place in this environment.
"I should find someone first to ask about the situation."
He put away the document.
There was only a description of the task Pokémon and its general hiding area but couldn't pinpoint the exact location.
Tap, tap, tap—
Stepping on the shattered stone slabs, the crushed gravel underfoot made his footsteps sound rather dull.
Heading straight towards a dilapidated building.
His sudden move took the person silently observing him from inside this building by surprise.
In a panic, they tried to leave, but then they heard Natsuhiko say:
"Stop him."
Swish—
Glittering white thread spun from Weedle's mouth, wrapping around the foot of the person attempting a messy escape.
Their face full of panic, they struggled to break free, but couldn't move, instead being drawn closer to Natsuhiko.
With Weedle's current Spinning Silk, an average human had no chance to break free.
Natsuhiko looked at him expressionlessly, meeting his panic-filled eyes.
Upon recognizing the person's appearance, Natsuhiko was slightly taken aback but quickly collected himself and flatly said, "Sanfu."
Hearing his name called, the person was also taken aback.
Natsuhiko didn't expect that by randomly finding someone to question, he would run into his past acquaintance.
However, with how much he had changed, Sanfu didn't recognize him at all, even if he found him familiar, he never associated him with the former Natsuhiko.
"Sir...."
Realizing he couldn't run, Sanfu obediently acknowledged.
One of the survival rules of the lower society: when encountering someone clearly not an opponent, surrender.
Natsuhiko took out a twenty Pokédollar bill from his pocket.
"Answer my questions, and it's yours."
At the sight of money, Sanfu's eyes lit up immediately.
Don't underestimate twenty Pokédollars; for him, it could mean food security for a week or even longer.
He nodded repeatedly, "Yes, yes!"
"Recently... have there been any new Pokémon sightings in this area? Are there any unusual places or events?"
"This area... Pokémon... unusual events..."
Sanfu blinked and fell into deep thought.
Then he shuddered and quickly reacted, saying urgently, "Recently, Scarface died suddenly in the South. ..."
"Not that."
Before he could finish, Natsuhiko interrupted.
Scarface was the person who tried to snatch Weedle from him back then. He probably got poisoned by Weedle's Poison Needle, leaving him temporarily weakened and an easy target for someone else.
This was common in the slums.
It wasn't any significant event.
"Not…." Sanfu mumbled lowly, but then as if thinking of something, "In the western abandoned dumpsite, some strange vehicles have been dumping garbage recently. There are also strange creatures appearing in the dumpsite, some say... they're Pokémon, called Grimer...."
"Not that either."
Natsuhiko interrupted again, his eyes unconvinced as he emphasized, "I mean unusual events or phenomena that shouldn't be happening or appearing."
Scarface's death and the appearance of Muk in the dumpsite were routine occurrences.
They had no relation to his mission.
Sensing Natsuhiko's gaze, Sanfu trembled slightly, his dusty forehead broke into a sweat, leaving marks as his mind began to spin rapidly.
Natsuhiko didn't rush him, just crossing his arms and waiting in silence.
After a moment, Sanfu tentatively said, "In the West corner... Assef caught a Rattata... would that count as an unusual event...?"
Just before Natsuhiko could respond, Sanfu quickly understood such matters probably weren't unusual to Natsuhiko and immediately added, "Assef doesn't have a Pokeball!"
Hearing this, Natsuhiko's eyes narrowed.
He left the money behind and turned to leave.
It should be.
That's it.
...
...
The West corner of the slums.
"Oh!"
The Weedle that had been quietly perched on Natsuhiko's shoulder suddenly perked up, lifting its head to gaze at a broken residential building not far away.
"You sensed it?" Natsuhiko asked.
"Oh...."
Weedle seemed uncertain, just suddenly having a strange feeling.
"Then it must be here,"
Natsuhiko confirmed his suspicion even more.
Stepping quietly into the residential building.
"Who?!"
Suddenly.
As they approached, a voice resounded from a corner on the first floor.
A figure slowly emerged from the shadows, accompanied by a slightly frail-looking Rattata that didn't seem very strong.
However, what was surprising was.
The expressions of Assef and the Rattata seemed somewhat dazed, eyes vacant.
Like two puppets on strings.
As if something was controlling them.
Natsuhiko, seeing them in this state, was unsurprised; he was already ninety-nine percent sure of his guess.
His eyes scanned the surroundings, seeing no one else.
"Who, are, you?"
Assef spoke stiffly again, word by word, the Rattata beside him baring its teeth and claws.
"Oh!!"
Weedle replied.
Swish—
The Rattata seemed provoked, charging forward suddenly.
"Handle it," Natsuhiko said calmly.
Weedle understood, leaping from his shoulder, mouth glowing with a green hue, delivering a bite to Rattata.
With a single move, the frail Rattata lost its ability to fight.
Meanwhile, Assef, wielding a wooden stick from somewhere, aimed to strike Natsuhiko's head.
Swish—
But before he could get close, Weedle turned, spewing silk to ensnare his foot.
Crash!!
Stumbling, he fell heavily to the ground, raising a cloud of dust.
Weedle quickly added more silk, completely subduing him.
Yet, Assef struggled madly and roared continuously, appearing less like a person and more like a wild, furious beast.
"Let's go, the main target is here."
Natsuhiko glanced at the restrained Assef on the ground and spoke to Weedle.
Weedle used its silk to return to his shoulder.
Ascending the stairs, heading further up the dilapidated residential building.
But as soon as they stepped onto the stairs, they heard....
Rumble—
The stairs started to tremble lightly, with countless footsteps coming from above, accompanied by loud squeaking noises.
Next.
A dense swarm of small figures came into view.
Rattata!
An uncountable number of Rattata, crazily rushing down the stairs.
And their target was the Weedle and Natsuhiko who had intruded.
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